1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method of an electrophotographic fixing member and an electrophotographic fixing member. It also relates to a fixing apparatus and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, in a heat-fixing apparatus used for electrophotographic system, members of rotation such as a pair of heated rollers and rollers, a film and a roller, and a belt and a roller are press-contacted.
A recording material holding an image by an unfixed toner is introduced into a press-contact region formed between these members of rotations and heated, thereby to melt the toner to fix the image on the recording material.
The member of rotation to which the unfixed toner image held on the recording material contacts is referred to as a fixing member, and according to its form, it is referred to as a fixing roller, a fixing film, and a fixing belt.
These fixing members are known to dispose silicone rubber layers having heat resistance on a substrate formed by metal or heat resisting resin and the like and coat these layers with release layers made of fluorine resin with silicone rubber adhesives. As a silicone rubber composition used for the formation of the silicone rubber layer, an addition curing type silicone rubber is in heave usage in view of workability.
Further, as the silicone rubber adhesive, the one using an addition curing type silicone rubber adhesive is known, which has a self-adhesiveness in a liquid state or a pasty state (Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2005-238765). This is because the addition curing type silicone rubber adhesive adheres the silicone rubber layer with the release layer made of fluorine resin in a good state.
The fixing member having a configuration as described above can enclose and melt the toner image without compressing it excessively because of an excellent elastic deformation of the silicone rubber layer. Hence, this has an effect of preventing an image displacement and bleeding and improving a color mixture. Further, this has an effect of following the unevenness of a fiber of the paper severing as a heated medium and preventing the occurrence of an irregularity of toner melting.
However, when the surface of the cured silicone rubber layer formed by using the addition curing silicone rubber is adhered with a fluorine resin layer serving as the release layer by using the addition curing type silicone rubber adhesive, the following problem has arisen. That is, the component of the silicone rubber adhesive inside the cured silicone rubber layer has infiltrated, and an unsaturated aliphatic group in the cured silicone rubber layer has been often reacted with active hydrogen in the adhesive, thereby inviting the rising in the hardness of the cured silicone rubber layer.
As a result, there are often the cases where the surface hardness of the fixing member rises, thereby diminishing the excellent advantage brought about by the elastic deformation of the silicone rubber layer.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-030801 proposes, with a view to solve such a problem, to suppress an amount of the unsaturated aliphatic group remaining in the silicone rubber layer after cross-linking of the silicone rubber layer. By adopting such a configuration, the reaction with the unsaturated aliphatic group in the silicone rubber layer and the active hydrogen in the adhesive can be suppressed. As a result, the rise in hardness of the silicone rubber layer accompanied with the use of the addition curing type silicone adhesive can be effectively suppressed.